The Beatles Two Rarest Vinyl Records are from Germany

I was going through my collection of vinyl records and LP's and came across two of the most rare of all Beatle LP's produced. No, these are no the Vee-Jay records, or the Swan records released in the USA in 1963, these are from Hamburg, Germany.

Released sometime in the late 60's or early 70's, these albums were released by Audifon Records, then in Hamburg on Freheit 34.

The first one is called, Youngblood, and contains recordings of the band in late 1962 on Side 1. while on Side 2, their performance at the Beatles Christmas Show on Dec. 22, 1963, when Beatlemania is clearly evident in the concert. What makes it interesting is Side 1 has the band doing all covers of other songs from Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, and others. While the quality of the recording is so-so, one could see why they were a hot rock band. So much energy given to every song. Side 2, is the first ever time their concert was recorded with no separation between songs. So, after they do "I Want To Hold Your Hand", Paul and John act as MC's, talking to the crowd, joking with them, teasing them, really working them. Of course, the girls screams are shrieking at high decibels. Then, they launch into "Money", the place goes crazy. They clearly had learned well in Hamburg in 1961. While the songs on Side 2 are all familiar, their vocals are all different from how we are used to hearing them. For example, in She Loves You, the key is lower because John is the lead singer until Paul takes over in certain sections. The recording released that went to #1, is in a different key and Paul is the lead singer. In, Roll Over Beethoven, John is singing it, not George, which is on the first LP. All My Loving is also different musically.

The second LP is, Watching Rainbows. This is The Beatles in 1968\69. It is a combination of recordings from the Get Back sessions and Abbey Road.There is some unreleased material on this I don't recall on the Anthology series, like, "Watching Rainbows", a blues rock song that has a long guitar jam in it. "Mean Mr. Mustard" is faster with some good lead guitar solos, it is over four minutes long! While, "Early in the Morning", is throwback to their Hamburg days just rocking out. The version of "Two of Us" on this LP is much faster also, not the slower one that was released on Let It Be. Finally, there is John really singing like a honky tonk country western artist in, "A fool Like Me and You Win Again". It is almost a parody.

All in all, Watching Rainbows is of better studio quality. Both provide a unique audio of them in 1962-3 and 1968-9. I am sure the record run on them was very low, maybe not even a thousand made. Glad I was such a determined fan.

Of the British bands that invaded America in 1964, which is your favorite?